HOUSTON -- Practice sessions and qualifications for the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights were revised because of a surface issue in Turn 1 on the 1.634-mile, 10-turn MD Anderson Cancer Center Speedway.
The initial IZOD IndyCar Series practice for the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston is at 2 p.m. (ET) Oct. 4, with Firestone Indy Lights practice at 4:20 (ET). A second IZOD IndyCar Series practice is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (ET). A temporary chicane to slow the cars was employed until grinding of the racing surface at Turn 1 could take place overnight.
UPDATED SCHEDULE
The area of Reliant Park is utilized to store the grass field for Reliant Stadium.
"It was a unique challenge the last 96 hours turning the parking lot into a racetrack starting right after the Texas game," said Martyn Thake, director of operations for the promoter. "There have been so many things moving and interlocking at the same time. A facility like this used as much as it is, it was an area we weren't able to explore too closely until we took over the facility.
"I think the solutions we've come up with will work out fine."
IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying for Race 1, scheduled for Oct. 4, will be held at 11:45 a.m. (ET) Oct. 5. The three rounds of qualifying for road/street circuits, including the Firestone Fast Six, were forfeited for a 30-minute session. The 90-lap Race 1 with a standing start will proceed as planned at 3:30 p.m. (ET).
Race 2 qualifying will replace the 30-minute warmup at 9:45 a.m. (ET) Oct. 6, followed at 12:30 p.m. (ET) by Race 2.
A 30-minute qualifying session for Firestone Indy Lights will be held at 9:30 a.m. (ET) Oct. 5, followed by the 50-lap race at 1:30 p.m. (ET). NBC Sports Network will broadcast all three races. Check local listings.
Real-time Timing & Scoring augmented by the IMS Radio Network broadcasts for all on-track sessions is available on www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 app.
Helio Castroneves enters the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston doubleheader with a 49-point lead in the championship over Scott Dixon, though the driver of the No. 3 Shell Pennzoil Team Penske car knows the margin is tentative. Dixon swept the doubleheader in Toronto in mid-July to vault from seventh in the standings to second.
“At this point we have to go with the flow. If I have a good car, we’ll go for (the wins)," Castroneves said. "In this position, there’s more for us to lose than to gain. Those people in the attack mode have more to gain, but we’re not going to drive like an old lady and just try to finish the race.
"We have to be rough when we have to be rough and have to be smart. That’s our approach right now, and we have to get what we can out of the car. We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, which is be consistent and get the most points we can.”